9 tVie Sbee-ckeS 



j\ Review o 
?■ theHifcht Koti. George. Can 



es Dions 



f~R 



eacc aai, 



'Reform - 

!3y W;\\faTTi1*o*coe~ 18 12. 




CIass_ 

Book : 



REVIEW. 

OF THE 

' SPEECHES 

OF 

THE RIGHT HON. GEORGE CANNING, 

ON THE LATE 

ELECTION FOR LIVERPOOL, 

A3 FAR AS THEY RELATE TO 

THE QUESTIONS 

OF 

PEACE 

AND OF 

REFORM. 

BY WILLIAM ROSCOE. 



LIVERPOOL : 

Printed by Egerton Smith & Co. Pool Lane, 

For T. Cadell and W. Davie s, Strand, 

LONDON. 



Dec. 1812. 



V 



* \> „\ 



■^ 



REVIEW, &c. 



IT is a proof, amongst many others, of the increas- 
ing attention of the people to the important con- 
cerns of their own government, that the persons 
who offer themselves for the representation of the 
country find it necessary to state, more at large than 
was formerly done, the nature of their political opi- 
nions, and the grounds upon which they solicit the 
suffrages of the electors. One advantage resulting 
from this circumstance is, that from the facilitv with 
which the most extemporaneous harangues are now 
committed to the press, the sentiments of our Re- 
presentatives become, as it were, matter of record. 
During the heat of an election, much may be ex- 
cused, and much overlooked ; but certain great and 

s 



leading opinions, repeated and enforced in various 
forms, and on different occasions, will remain for 
future examination, and cannot be disavowed or 
explained away by being represented as hasty effu- 
sions, intended only to answer the purpose of the 
present moment. To use the language of the anony- 
mous Editor of Mr. Canning's speeches — " The 
<e terms on which Mr. Canning consented to serve the 
"borough, are clearly expressed, and his addresses 
te will be the witness between him and his constituents, 
ec as lo?ig as he shall continue to be their representa- 
tive." 

It is, however far from my intention to enter 
upon a question which time alone can decide, and 
of which the electors of Liverpool are the more 
immediate judges. With the propriety of their 
choice, or the reasons which led to it, I shall not 
interfere ; and if any thing I may have occasion to 
advance may seem to apply to the town of Liver- 
pool, it will be found to be only so far as that place 
must, from its importance, be interested in all that 
affects the nation at large. There are, however, 
certain subjects of general importance, which the 
circumstances of the contest necessarily brought 
forwards, or, at least, upon which Mr. Canning 
thought proper largely and repeatedly to enter.— 
Of these, the principal embrace the great questions 
of Peace and of Reform; upon both of which I have 
had occasion, at differeat times, to lay my sentiments 



before the public* The frequency and earnestness 
with which these questions were discussed by Mr. 
Canning, could not therefore fail of engaging my 
attention. I found those principles and opinions 
which I was well known to enleriain, in common 
with a very great proportion of the community, 
not only controverted as ignorant theories, the result 
of an enthusiastic and presumptuous philosophy, 
but represented as criminal and dangerous, as 
directly hostile to the honour and interests of the 
country — as leading to mad and desperate attempts 
to involve the nation at large, in the most deplor- 
able calamities. 

That I should naturally wish, as far as in my 
power, to- remove the unfavourable impressions 
which such a circumstance must have a tendency to 
produce as to my personal character and opinions, 
will not be thought extraordinary ; yet it is possible 
that if this had been my sole motive, I might have 
suffered these representations to pass without remon- 
strance and without defence, other than what I trust 
would be found by a reference to my writings ; but 
although my silence might gratify my indolence, 
yet, I cannot but feel some apprehensions that such 
silence may be attributed to my acquiescence in the 
reasonings of Mr. Canning, or my inability to repiy 
to them. The acknowledged talents of Mr. Can- 
ning, the high stations he has held in the state, and 
the success of his election at Liverpool, all conspire, 



6 

particularly at this juncture, to give weight to his 
opinions and edge to his censures ; and there are, I 
doubt not, many considerate and candid persons, 
who conceive that his decision is conclusive, and 
that he has not only refuted the arguments of his 
opponents, but has effectually sealed their doom. 

I trust it will not be attributed to party feeling, 
when I acknowledge that in the speeches of Mr. 
Canning I have been disappointed. From the dis- 
tance at which I had been accustomed to consider 
him, as having formed an important part of admi- 
nistration, and as being regarded, if not as the leader, 
as the most effective person in a great political party 
again aspiring to power, I was led to expect, that in 
what he might think proper to state to the electors of 
Liverpool, he would observe somewhat of that cau- 
tion and reserve which his habits as a minister must 
have induced, and for which his official documents 
are so remarkable ; and that if he at any time ven- 
tured to state a decisive opinion, it could not be car- 
ried to any great extreme, but would be such only 
as could be supported on clear and irrefragable 
grounds. What then was my surprise, when I 
found, in the printed speeches of Mr. Canning, the 
direct reverse of what I had expected. Instead of 
reserve, the most open declaration of his sentiments ; 
instead of grave and sober remarks on points on 
which good men differ, and wise men doubt, the 
most crude and inconsiderate notions — instead of 



convincing arguments, authoritative assertions ; in- 
stead of just and extended views, the most narrow 
and unaccountable prejudices; in short, every thing 
but what, from the idea formed of Mr. Canning, I 
had previously been led to expect. 

It does not however appear, that the decisive 
tone to which I have adverted, was adopted by 
Mr. Canning early in the election. Neither in his 
address upon his nomination at the hustings, nor 
in his speeches at the conclusion of the poll on the 
three first days, has he stated a political opinion. 
Mr. Canning was in fact a stranger to Liverpool, 
and it may perhaps, without any breach of charity, 
be presumed, that he thought it necessary to be ap- 
prized of the sentiments of those who had under- 
taken to support him, before he disclosed his 
own ; but as the heat ot the contest increased, and 
the parties drew off in opposite directions, Mr. Can- 
ning was not slow to enforce those sentiments which 
he doubtless entertains, and which he found to be 
also those of his friends. Having once adopted this 
course of conduct, he soon carried it to its utmost 
extreme; and it may be doubted whether the hosti- 
lity which he so repeatedly avowed against enter- 
taining the questions of either Peace or Reform, was 
not, upon some occasions, too strong for the nerves 
of his auditors; many of whom could not contem- 
plate, with the most pleasing emotions, the prospect 
of an indefinite and hopeless perseverance in a system 



which, it was evident, had already dqnived them of 
their occupations, and reduced them and their fa- 
milies to the most painful and humiliating distress. 

Even on the fourth day of the election, when Mr. 
Canning first thought proper to advert to the state 
of the public mind in Liverpool on the subject of 
the war, he stated his sentiments in such general 
terms, as to give no reasonable cause of com- 
plaint. He had, it seems, been taught to believe 
that there existed in the town of Liverpool fC a 
querulous impatience under the privations incident to 
the war ;" but in this he had been mistaken, having 
found, <e instead of unreasoning clamours for a peace, 
to he attained by sacrifice and submission, a disposi- 
tion to sJmre the evils of war, until it can be put an 
end to with safety, because without disgrace/* Had 
Mr. Canning been better acquainted with the towu 
of Liverpool, he might have carried his commendar 
lion still further. lie might have stated, and stated 
truly, that during a period of distressing inactivity 
a>nd severe privations, the more laborious class of the 
community had never betrayed the slightest indica- 
tion of a disorderly disposition, and that their con- 
duct had not only been peaceable, but exemplary. It 
must not, however,be supposed that this commenda- 
tion is to be confined to the friends or supporters of 
Mr. Canning. The praise is due to the whole town of 
Liverpool, without distinction of party ; nor is there 
a man amongst his opponents who would notindig- 



aantly spurn the ides, * c of purchasing a respite t® 
himself at the tx pence of national inter est andhonour*' 

In his speech, on tfte close of the fifth day's poll, 
Mr. Canning has entered pretty fully into an expo- 
sition of his sentiments on Parliamentary Reform. A 
question had, it seems, been put to him on this sub- 
ject, in some of the societies which he had visited in 
the course of his canvass, and he takes this oppor- 
tunity of giving it a public and a decisive answer : 
t( Upon a point of this importance/ 1 ' says he, " I will 
not equivocate — Gentlemen, I will not support that 
question of Parliamentary Reform. — / will not sup- 
port it, because I am persuaded that those who are 
most loud, and apparently most solicitous in recom- 
mending it, do mean, and have for years past meant, 
far other things than those simple words seem to in- 
tend-, because I am persuaded that that question 
cannot be stirred, without stirring others that would 
nliake the consti' ution to its very foundation ; and be- 
cause I am satisfied that the House of Commons, as at 
present constituted, is adequate to all the functions 
which it is wisely and legitimately ordained to execute; 
that showy theories and fanciful schemes of arithme- 
tical or geographical proportion would fail to produce 
any amelioration of the present frame of the House 
of Commons — J deny the grievance; I doubt the 
remedy. And when it is asserted to me again, as t 
have often heard it asserted heretofore, that under the 
present corrupt system there is no true popular dele- 



iO 



gallon, no uninfluenced or disinterested choice of re- 
present ativzs by the people, my mind will recur at once 
to the scene which is now before me, and will repose, 
with perfect contentment, upon the practical contra- 
diction which Liverpool affords to assertions so dis- 
paraging to the people/' 

As an answer to the question proposed to Mr. 
Canning, this avowal is sufficiently conclusive ; 
but it must have been obvious to the most superficial 
and inconsiderate of his hearers that in other respects 
it is nothing more than a mere gratuitous and un- 
supported assertion of his own opinions The Friends 
of Reform have indeed often been told, and are now 
told again, that they mean far other things than they 
pretend to aim at ; but what are the grounds upon 
which Mr. Canning has hazarded so general and so 
injurious an imputation ? Can he expect it to be 
received as a self-evident truth, that every person 
who zealously espouses the cause of Parliamentary 
Reform is aiming only at the destruction of his coun- 
try ? Does he conceive it to be impossible to shew 
the least feeling for the distresses of the nation, or 
the slightest disapprobation of the defects and 
abuses of the representation of the people, without 
intending to overturn the constitution ? Can he look 
to those distinguished characters of high rank and 
unblemished worth, who have from time to time 
asserted this cause,, or to those numerous and re- 



It 

ipectable classes of the people, who throughout the 
whole nation, from the cities of London and West- 
minster, to the humblest villages, have espoused the 
same opinions, and can he suppose that this great 
mass of talents and of virtue, of wealth, of influence 
and of power j is collectively and individually hostile 
to the welfare, and earnest to effect the ruin, of 
the country ? Has not Mr. Canning himself been 
the parti zan and advocate of that Reform which he 
now so violently deprecates ? And when the great 
object of his political idolatry, Mr. Pitt, aposta- 
tized from the cause of the people, did not Mr. Can- 
ning endeavour to countenance hi&*.patron by be- 
coming an apostate also ? Nay further, did he not, 
in the year 1794, openly declare in the House of 
Commons, that if Mr. Pitt should once more 
change his opinions and become the friend of reform, 
he would follow his example, and thereby apostatize 
from hisapostacy ? And did notthe open avowal of 
such a sentiment subject him to one of the severest 
reproofs from the sarcastic wit of Mr. Courtenay, 
that ever any member received in the House ? Mr. 
Canning, therefore, has been in the ranks of the 
Reformers, and cannot but know that the grounds 
and reasons upon which they claim their constitu- 
tional rights have too broad a foundation in the 
history and laws of the country, and the practice of 
their ancestors, to be overthrown or invalidated by 
the mere assertion of any man ; and ought to be 
aware, that as a person who has derived, or is likely 



12 

to derive, peculiar advantages from the change of his 
political opinions, he should be particularly cautious 
in imputing to those who have adhered to their prin- 
ciples, those base and unworthy motives, which might 
with so much more propriety be retorted on himself. 

Such, however, are the convincing reasonings, 
such the happy illustrations, the pointed remarks, 
with which Mr. Canning has treated the great ques- 
tion of Parliamentary Reform, and condescended 
to enlighten the town of Liverpool. He first assures 
us, that he will not support that question of Parlia- 
mentary Reform, and to this assurance he adds a few 
sentences, each of them beginning with the word 
because ; but which, instead of supporting his pro- 
position, stand every one of them as much in need of 
a because themselves, and give rise to ten objections 
instead of one,. After this formal declaration of Mr. 
Canning, theadvocates for reform may, if they please, 
put the cause to issue, by answering, that they will 
support the question of Parliamentary Reform — be- 
cause they wish for such a Reform, and mean no- 
thing but what those simple words intend ; — because 
the question may be stirred, without shaking the 
foundations of the constitution ; — because the House 
of Commons, as at present constituted, is inadequate 
to the purposes of its institution; — because the con- 
stitution of these realms, as handed down to us by 
our ancestors, and defined by the highest authorities, 
is neither a showy theory, nor a fanciful scheme ; and., 



13 

lastly, because the election of Mr. Canning for Liver- 
pool is no proof that a Reform is not necessary in the 
House of Commons. 

On examining: Mr. Canning's speeches at Liver- 
pool, I do not find that he has again recurred to this 
topic, except by a few contemptuous allusions to 
the enemy whom he had so successfully overthrown. 
But on his leaving Liverpool, he accepted an invi- 
tation from the Boroughreeve of Manchester to a 
public dinner in that town; where, on his health 
being drank by the meeting, bethought it expedient 
once more to enter upon the subject. It might be 
thought that with such sentiments as he had already 
avowed, his situation at this moment was somewhat 
critical, and that as the great and populous town of 
Manchester sends no representatives to parliament, 
he would be cautious of wounding the feelings of 
his friends, and if he coufd not encourage their 
hopes, would not at least reproach them with their 
degradation. Mr. Canning, however, seems to 
have had no hesitation on the subject. He had in- 
deed already had an opportunity of making a similar 
experiment at Warrington, where he was invited to 
dine on his way to Manchester, and which place, 
although consisting of not less than 10,000 inhabi- 
tants, sends no representatives to parliament. It is 
to be regretted that his speech upon this occasion is 
not published in the present collection, as we are as- 
sured by a loyal journalist that, " during the brilliant 



14 

sketch which he drew of the state of politics the com* 
panji were left in doubt, whether to admire most — 
the classical diction — the apposite, and beautiful al- 
lusions and figures he made use of — or the ease and 
elegance with which the whole was delivered.' \\ Of 
these splendid stores the reporter has only selected a 
single gem, in the following striking passage, which, 
hpwever, fortunately happens to throw its dazzling 
light directly upon our present subject — "There are 
persons (said the illustrious statesman) who would 
tell you that the town of Warrington, from its size 
and commercial importance, ought of itself to send 
members to parliament, instead of celebrating the 
return of the members for Liverpool. — They would 
flatter you with this theory, in order to obtain po- 
pularity. — I shall not do so. — In me you see a de- 
cided ENEMY TO PARLIAMENTARY REFORM ; Con- 
fident that the representation of the kingdom, as it 
now stands, is fully adequate to answer— the best par* 
poses of the state. 33 

After this rehearsal, the performance at Manches- 
ter was comparatively easy ; and accordingly Mr. 
Canning assures the meeting that — " the evil com- 
plained of does not exist, and therefore the remedy 
called for is unnecessary. yi — "In addressing the larg- 
est unrepresented town in the Kingdom, 3 * says Mr. 
Canning, " I should use this language with fear and 
trembling, if I did not know that 1 was addressing, at 
tiie same time, men of sense, of reflection, and of 



15 

liberality, who know well that the interests of unrc~ 
presented Manchester are safe among the interests of 
represented England." How Manchester can be un- 
represented if England be represented, how it hap- 
pens that the whole does not include every part, Mr k 
Canning has omitted to explain ; but the fact is, 
if Manchester be unrepresented — if 100,000 persons, 
composing the population of a great commercial 
and manufacturing town — paying an immense re- 
venue to government, and supplying a very consi- 
derable proportion of our armies — if such a town 
be unrepresented — then is England unrepresented* 
Of this fact Mr, Canning was well aware, as ap. 
pears from what follows — C( Some persons/' says he, 
" think that the House of Commons ought to he all 
in all in the Constitution ; and that every portion of 
the people ought to be immediately, actively, and per- 
petually, in contact with their particular reprcstnta^ 
fives in the House of Commons. — If this were a true, 
viezv of the Constitution," continued he, " undoubt- 
edly the present scheme of representation is inadequate. 
But if this be true, we are living under a different 
constitution from that of England. — / think we have 
the happiness to live under a limited mmiarchy, not 
under a crowned republic » and I think the House of 
Commons, as at present constituted, equal to its fund* 
tions; because 1 conceive it to be the office of the 
members of the House of Commons not to conduct 
the Government themselves, but to watch over and 
control the ministers of the Crown; to represent and 



16 



speak the opinion of the people ; to speak it in a voice 
of thunder, if their interests are neglected, or their 
rights invaded ; but to do this, not as an assembly of 
delegates from independent states, but as a body of 
men chosen from among thk whole community to 
unite their efforts in promoting the general interests 
of the country at large.'* 

Such is the sound constitutional knowledge dis- 
played by Mr. Canning before the assembled town 
of Manchester. After such a representation, I trust 
the Friends of Reform will no longer be reproached 
with fanciful schemes and showy theories; for I will 
venture to say that such a scheme of government 
as that above stated, was Lever conceived till the 
moment it was brought forth by Mr. Canning in the 
town of Manchester. — " Some persons think/' says 
Mr. Canning, "that the House of Commons should 
be all in all in the Constitution "—Where did Mr. 
Canning discover these thoughts ? Have they been 
avowed by the Advocates of Reform, either in their 
speeches or writings ? Can Mr. Canning point out 
any of those persons who have dared to represent the 
King and the House of Lords as unnecessary, and 
to assert that the House of Commons ought to be 
all in all in the Constitution ? If he can do this, he 
is now called upon to name those persons to whom 
he thus darkly alludes. — If he cannot, his language 
can only be considered as an unjust and groundless 
aspersion, intended to throw an odium on the legi- 



1? 

timate cause of Reform, by representing it as a covert 
attempt to destroy the constitution, and its promoters 
as the secret enemies of the state. 

<c That every portion of the people ought to be /m- 
medialely, actively y and perpetually in contact with 
their particular representatives/* is a proposition 
which I confess is to me wholly unintelligible- The 
Friends of Reform make use of no such language. 
What they contend for, is, that every person, of a 
certain age, degree, and description in the country; 
should have a voice, in common with his fellow sub- 
jects, in the choice of a representative ; — but, that 
after such representative has been chosen, the people 
should be " immediately, actively, and perpetually in 
contact with him in the House of Commons, is be- 
yond all comprehension. Some doubts may indeed 
have arisen as to the exercise of this delegated power; 
and whilst some persons contend that the represen- 
tative is to exercise his own unbiassed discretion, 
others are of opinion that he ought to obey, from 
time to time, the directions of his constituents; but 
this difference of opinion is no characteristic of a 
party; and therefore cannot be the subject to which 
Mr. Canning adverts. — "If this be a true view of the 
Constitution/* proceeds Mr. Canning, "undoubtedly 
the present scheme of representation is inadequate." 
Let us unite these passages, in the hope of eliciting 
a meaning — If it be true that every portion of the peo- 
ple ought to be immediately, actively, and perpetually 



18 

tn contact with their representatives in the House of 
Commons — then the present scheme of representation 
is inadequate. — Is it then possible, after all, that 
by this elegant and original figure of speech, Mr. 
Canning merely intends to designate the privilege 
claimed for every individual of voting for a member 
in parliament ? We will, in order to extricate our- 
selves from our embarrassment, take this for granted, 
and presume that he means to say, that if the peo- 
ple ought to have an equal voice in the representation, 
then the present scheme of representation is inade- 
quate, and we are living under a different constitu- 
tion from that of England I — a conclusion in which 
the Friends of Reform and Mr. Canning most per- 
fectly agree. 

Having thus shewn us what the House of Com- 
mons is not, he next proceeds to tell us what it 
ought to be ; and it is here we meet with those new 
principles of the British Constitution, which cannot 
too much be held up to our admiration. — Mr. Can- 
ning conceives it to he the office of the members of 
the House of Commons not to conduct the government 
themselves, but to watch over and control the ministers 
of the Crown. Is this then the constitutional idea 
of the House of Commons ? Ought it to have no 
share in the legislation of the country ? Is it merely 
a committee, appointed to watch over and control 
the executive government, without being itself a 
component part of the legislature — one of the three 



19 

estates which compose the far-famed Constitution 
of these realms? Undoubtedly thus to limit the 
functions of the House of Commons, is to degrade 
it from the important station to which it is intitled, 
and to assign to it only a secondary and inferior 
office.^ — And in what manner is the House of Comr 
mons to exercise this trust ? Mr. Canning informs 
us, that "the members are to represent, and to speak 
the opinions of the people. 1 ' But supposing the exe- 
cutive government should disregard these opinions? 
They are then " to speak in a voice of thunder, if 
their interests are neglected, or their rights in- 
vaded, 9 ' And if this voice of thunder should be 
disregarded/ what then ? Further this deponent saith 
not. From all which we are to collect, that it is 
the business of ministers to govern the country, and 
of the House of Commons to speak upon it; and un- 
doubtedly, if this be, as Mr. Canning "humbly con- 
ceives it to be, the truer view of the legitimate and 
constitutional functions of the House of Commons, 
then is the House of Commons adequate to its func- 
tions." 

It must not however be supposed that Mr. Can- 
ning left his friends at Manchester i,n this uncom- 
fortable state, altogether deprived of a share in the 
representation.- — The concluding sentence of his 
speech at length consoled them for all their priva- 
tions, and was doubtless received with expressions 
(pfthe warmest gratitude and applause.— (f I can- 



20 

not,** says Mr. Canning, "promise you to endeavour 
to alter the frame of the House of Commons in order 
to open an admission for new representatives — even 
from you; but I promise you, that while the present 
defective state of representation (if defective it be) 
continues, I shall be happy to do all in my feeble 
power to make the deficiency- as little felt by you as 
possible, by attending on all occasions to tlie wants 
and interests of Manchester.'* With the same mag- 
nanimous spirit, Mr. Canning had before assured 
the inhabitants of Liverpool, that although he had 
peculiar obligations to those gentlemen who so zeal- 
ohsly supported him, yet, since he was honoured with 
a delegation of this enviable trust, he should consider 
himself as the representative of all. — How far the 
inhabitants of either of these great towns, who are 
favourable to the cause of Constitutional Reform, 
will be gratified by the assurance that they are now 
represented by a man who has avowed himself " a 
decided enemy to Reform/' may readily be conceived. 
This liberal offer of his services evinces, however, no 
less the delicacy of Mr. Canning's feelings towards 
his opponents, than the well founded confidence 
which he entertains in the wonderful powers of 
his own mind, which enable him to undertake to 
promote objects not only discordant, but at total 
variance with each other, and to represent not 
only the friends of peace, but the partizans of the 
war; not only those who wish to see the cor- 
ruption and abuses of the state removed, but 



2i 

those who wish for their continuance; or, in other 
words, to be the " representative of all." 

It is not however to the proposed Reform in the 
choice of the representatives that Mr. Canning con- 
fines his objections. — He is well aware that certain 
alterations might take place in the House of Com- 
mons, which, without extending the elective fran- 
chise, would throw considerable obstacles in the 
way of those who endeavour to make that House the 
avenue to emolument and to power. Against any 
such alterations he has therefore entered his caveat, 
— ' v Mad indeed and desperate," says he, "would 
be the Reform which should exclude from the House 
of Commons, as some ignorant theorists advise, every 
man who has possessed, or who possesses, office ; se- 
parating thereby the service of the crown from that 
of the people, as if they were not identified in interest, 
and mutually dependant on each other," 

Were I called upon to select from Mr. Canning's 
speeches, a passage which should more particularly 
mark their general character — unjust imputation 
supported by inefficient argument — I know not whe- 
ther I should not fix upon the foregoing. Does not 
the man who faithfully serves the crown as a public 
officer, serve the people also ? And will Mr. Can- 
ning pretend that he cannot do this without having 
a seat in Parliament ? Does not an honest repre- 
sentative of the people also serve the crown ? And 



22 

cannot he do this without holding a place under 
government ? The fact is, that both the crown and 
the people are best served by adhering to the prin- 
ciples of the Constitution, and not by suffering the 
crown, by the distribution or the hope of places and 
pensions, to seduce the Commons from their duty. 
Yet Mr. Canning scruples not to tell us, that to 
exclude those who possess office would be a mad and 
desperate Reform ! and such as ignorant theorists 
could alone advise ! Had Mr. Canning thought pro- 
per to turn to the political history of his country, 
he would have known that the exclusion of placemen 
and pensioners from the House of Commons was so 
far from being a new idea, set up by ignorant theo- 
rists, that it had been contended for by our ancestors 
with unremitting diligence ; and that there was a 
period when this mad and desperate Reform was 
carried into effect, and was the law of the land. — 
By the \% and 13 Wm* 3\ c. 2. usually called the 
Act of Succession, it was enacted, that ec no person 
who bas an office or place of profit under the Crown 
shall be capable of serving as a member of the House 
of Commons." — This remained in force till it was 
repealed by the 4 Ann. c. 8. and was again re- 
vived, in a modified form, by the 6th Ann. c. 7. 
which declared, that (< if any member should accept of 
any office of profit from the crown, bis election should 
be void." This regulation would effectually have 
answered the purpose, had it not been for the pro- 
viso attached to it, "that such persons should be capable 



S3 

:( of being again elected" A proviso, which, from the 
multiplicity of corrupt boroughs, has defeated, in a. 
great degree, the beneficial effects intended by the 
Act. 

The regulations before adopted were not however 
thought sufficient to secure the House of Commons 
from the increasing influence of the Crown. By 
the act of succession, before referred to, it had also 
been provided, that "no person having a pension under 
ike crown during pleasure should be capable of being 
elected;" but by the 1 Geo* I. c. 56. this disqua- 
lification was also extended to persons having pensions 
for any term of years — a still more effectual measure 
was adopted by the 15 Geo. II. c. 22. which de- 
scribes by name a considerable number of offices, 
the holding of which is declared to render the party 
incapable of being elected. These measures have, 
however, failed to produce their intended effect; as 
it is evident, that whilst a sufficient number of 
placemen and pensioners are admitted into the House 
to give the minister a decided majority, such regula- 
tions are not of the slightest service. But it is clear 
that in endeavouring to purify the House of Com- 
mons from its abuses, the Friends of Reform are so 
far from setting up any new and dangerous theories, 
that they are only following the example set them by 
their ancestors, to whose labours it is their duty, no 
less than their interest, to give stability and effect. 



24 

If I were not unwilling to extend too far a dis- 
cussion arising from a temporary occasion, I should 
find no difficulty in proving, even to the conviction 
of Mr. Canning himself, that those opinions, which 
lie calls mad and desperate, were the calm and delibe- 
rate sentiments of men whose names are an honour to 
their country, and who not only entertained such 
sentiments, but successfully acted upon them. Nor 
will I omit the present opportunity of recommend- 
ing to the perusal of Mr. Canning the following 
passages from the speech of Mr. Sandys, Member 
for Worcester, in the year 1733, in the debate upon 
the bill for preventing Officer's of Government jrom 
sitting in Parliament. 

u I was indeed surprized to hear the worthy gen* 
f* tleman (Mr. Campbell,) who spoke last say, that 
se he thought it the most extraordinary and unrea- 
" sonable bill he had ever seen brought into this 
<c House; for if the gentleman will look into our 
t( journals, he will see that this very bill has been often 
t( brought in, and has almost alzv-ays been passtd in 
<c this House; and I am sure, if ever it was thought 
" reasonable by this House., it must now be thought 
" much more so, when the number of placemen is much 
"greater than it ever zvas heretofore/ 9 

ct Gentlemen may pretend that no man is influ- 
<e enced in his way of thinking, or in his manner of 



25 

" acting in tins House, by the post or office he pos- 
" sesses, and may be turned out of it whenever a 
<e prime minister may have a mind; but while men 
ts are men, I am convinced there will always be a 
<c great number, by far, I fear, the greatest number, 
€C who will rather vote according to the direction of the 
te prime minister for the time being, than run the risk 
" of being turned out of the lucrative post or office 
'* they hold, at the pleasure of the crown. And ;/ 
ts ever a majority of this House should happen to be 
" composed of such men, 1 am sure it will become as 
ce contemptible as ever the Senate of Rome was, after 
" it became the political tool of their arbitrary and 
** tyrannical emperors" 

The assertion of Mr. Sandys, that a bill of a 
similar nature had often been brought in, was 
well founded. Even before the Revolution these 
struggles had repeatedly taken place. — "Charles II. 
(to use the words of Sir John St.Aubin, in his famous 
speech on the Triennial bill in 1733) cc had obtained 
u a Parliament which by its long duration, like an 
" army of veterans, became so exactly disciplined to 
r< his own measures, that they knew no other command 
rf but from that person who gave them their pay." 
" This/' continues he, " was that remarkable Par- 
4t liament which so justly obtained the opprobrious 
te name of the Pension Parliament, and was the model 
fC from which I believe some later Parliaments have been 
*f exactly copied" Yet even in this gloomy and un- 



26 



favourable season of public liberty, the evil was not 
submitted to in silence, and the Reformers of that day, 
after having long struggled to preserve the rights of 
the people, compelled a tyrannical monarch to take 
refuge in countries more suited to his disposition, and 
effected that Revolution which is the ground work of 
our liberties. From the early debates on this subject 
I shall only submit to Mr. Canning, a part ot the 
speech of Sir Francis Winnington in the year 1680, 
and shall leave him and the reader to judge, whe- 
ther if a motion were to be made on the subject in 
the House of Commons, it would be possible to bring 
it forward in terms more appropriate to the present 
occasion. 

cc The last House of Commons, being sensible how 
€< narrowly this nation escaped being ruined by a 
< c sort of monsters called pensioners, which sate in the 
€c late long Parliament, had entered into a consider- 
<c ation how to prevent the like from coming into fu- 
" ture Parliaments ; and in order thereto resolved, 

V that they would severely chastise some of those that 
<c had been guilty, and make the best laws they could 
" to prevent the like for the future. I think it a 
" business of so great importance, that it never ought 
" to be forgotten, nor the prosecution of it deferred. 

V — I have often heard that England can never be 
ce destroyed but by itself ; to have such Parliaments 
" was the most likely way that ever yet was iiwented. 
" I remember a great lawyer said in this House, 



97 

" when it was debated in the last Parliament, that 
ec it was Treason; and he gave many learned argu- 
" ments to make it out. Whether it be so or no, 
4<r I will not now offer to debate, but I think that 
"for those that are the legislators of the nation to 
" take bribes to undermine the laws and government of 
" this nation, that they ought to be chastised as traitors. 
" It was my fortune to sit here a little while in die 
" long Parliament — I did observe that all those that 
" had pensions, and most of those that had offices, 
" voted all of a side, as they were directed by some great 
" officer, as exactly as. if their business in this House had 
" been to preserve their pensions and offices, and not to 
" make laws for the good of them that sent them here, — 
" How such persons could anyway be useful for the 
" support of the government, by pre serving a fair un- 
" der standing between the king and his people ; but on 
" the contrary, how dangerous to bring in arbitrary 
" power and popery, I leave to every man's judg n 
" ment. They were so far from being the U ne repr- 
esentatives of the people, that they were a distinct 

" MIDDLE INTEREST BETWEEN THE KING AND 

fc the people, and their chief business was to serve 

" the end of some great minister of state, though 

never so opposite to the true interests 

' of the nation. — This business ought never 

' to fall, though there should be never so many 

" prorogations and dissolutions of Parliaments be- 

" fore any thing be done in it. I think it is the in- 

" terestof the nation that it should be prosecuted from 

£ 



28 

" Parliament to Parliament, as if there were an im- 
" peackment against them. — [ pray, Sir, let there be a 

" VOte past, THAT NO MEMBER OF THIS HOUSE 
c SHALL ACCEPT OF AN Y OFFICE UN DM! THE 
" CROWN, DURING SUCH TIME AS HE CONTINUES A 
" MEMBER OF THIS HOUSE." 

Whereupon it was " Resolved, nemine con- 
tradicen te, that no member of this House shall accept 
of any office or place of profit from the crown without 
the leave of this House, or any promise of any such 
office or place of profit, during such time as he shall 
continue a member of this House" 

" Resolved, That all offenders herein 
shall be expelled this house." 

It was not until the sixth day of the poll that 
Mr. Canning found himself called upon to express 
his sentiments respecting the scarcity of provisions, 
as connected with the question of peace or war. — 
His opponents had, it seems, " exhibited a large loaf 
as the loaf of peace, and a small one as the loaf of 
war ; intending by these emblems to shew a necessary 
connection between war and scarcity /' " a topic,'" says 
Mr. Canning, " as unfounded in fact as it is mis- 
chievous in tendency ." — To which he adds,, " If, gen- 
tlemen, the imaginers of these devices can prove to you 
that their favourite candidates have power to dv eel 
the course of the seasons, and thereby to render more 



29 

abundant the means of subsistence for the great body of 
the people, I should exhort you to pass me by, and re- 
turn men who are possessed of so wonderful and so super- 
natural a secret" After these and other observations 
of the same nature, Mr. Canning decides the ques- 
tion at once, in the following emphatical terms: 

" Gentlemen, there is, in point of fact, nonecessary 
connection between the question of war, and the question 
of scarcity." 

Thusitisthatthehuman race are continually mak- 
ing new discoveries, and acquiring additional know- 
ledge ; but it is only by slow degrees, and on fortu- 
nate occasions, similar to that of the arrival of Mr. 
Canning in Liverpool, that these discoveries travel 
from the metropolis to the more distant provinces. 
Before the above assurance had been so positively 
given, it had certainly been suspected, at least in 
this part of the country, that some connection sub- 
sisted between war and scarcity. This opinion 
was indeed of no very recent date. It had been 
handed down from generation to generation in 
those humble records which formerly decorated 
the walls of our forefathers, under the name of 
Almanacs, at the very beginning of which we 
were duly and annually informed, that the con- 
nection between war and scarcity was very near in- 
deed, and that they stood in the relation to each 
other of parent and child. That " war begets po- 



30 

vcrly" is however now no longer an article of our 
political creed ; and after what we have seen, there 
may be some doubt whether "poverty begets peace" 

It would however have been well if Mr. Can- 
ning had confined himself to assertion, and left his 
hearers in that happy state of confidence which his 
assurances had inspired ; but, unfortunately, he has 
undertaken to produce proof of facts in themselves 
so evident ; and by a proceeding too common with 
distinguished orators, has thereby thrown doubts 
and distrust upon that which must otherwise have 
been explicitly admitted. — " ] suppose," says Mr. 
Canning, "any man will allow that the present yea?' is 
a year of as extended war as ever Europe witnessed. 
We have seen in the southern part of Europe the city of 
Madrid entered by the victorious troops of Great Bri- 
tain, and we have heard with horror how the imperial 
city of the north has escaped from the ravages of the 
conqueror, only by being consumed inflames of her own 
kindling — but, gentlemen, the same sun which gilded the 
triumphal entry of Lord Wellington into Madrid, and 
turned pale at the conflagration of Moscow, has ripened 
during the present year, both in the north and in the 
south, the most luxuriant harvest that ever blest mankind. 
Before the war loaf is paraded again, let the philoso- 
phers who support my antagonist, bring me the solution 
of this phenomenon" 



Now, however desirous we may be of assentin 



31 

to Mr. Canning's position, we cannot carry our 
complaisance so far as to admit that war has no effect 
whatever upon the quantum of subsistence produced 
for the human race; but that, as the sun shines 
whilst nations quarrel, the quantity of food will 
be precisely the same in war as in peace. — To such 
proposition we really cannot assent; and indeed if 
we were to assent to it, this would by no means 
prove that there is " no connection between war and 
scarcity ;" because, although the quantity produced 
might be the same in war as in peace, yet it is 
evident that by the waste and desolation of war, 
the destruction of magazines and harvests, the con- 
flagration of cities, and various other causes, to say 
nothing of the immense supplies required to sup- 
port the unproductive population of armies and na- 
vies, the quantity of subsistence must be very ma- 
terially diminished. — Challenged however as we 
are, by the lofty title of philosophers, to bring to Mr. 
Canning a solution of his phenomenon, we will not 
shrink from the task, but will produce an autho- 
rity which we trust he will consider as decisive. In 
his own speech at the public dinner after the elec- 
tion in Liverpool, he was led to contemplate the 
deplorable state to which our enemies are reduced 
by the effects of the war. "When I consider," says he, 
" at what cost the victories of France are obtained; 
when I consider, not in France only, but in all the con- 
quered countries, the destruction of industry, the stag- 
nation of commerce, manufactures^ and agriculture 



32 

languishing for want of hands — aged parents 
weeping over the desolation of their families, and the 
teeming mother almost deprecating the both oj her male 
child, who is to be torn away to pitiless destruction before 
his limbs have the pith of manhood foi med in them, I 
contemplate a scene of grievous distress and suffering 



to* 



Now, if Mr. Canning will inform us how it is 
possible that war should produce the consequences 
above stated, without having a necessary connection 
with scarcity — if he will tell us how war can have 
occasioned such deplorable effects in France, which 
exports its grain, without producing similar ef- 
fects in England, which purchases it; our objec- 
tions against his proposition will be removed, and 
we shall acknowledge that war and scarcity are per- 
fectly independent of each oilier. — And here we can- 
not but admire the philanthropy and universal pa- 
triotism of the Right Hon. Member for Liverpool, 
who can be so deeply affected with the distresses 
of other countries, and so magnanimously indiffer- 
ent to those of his own. It is however to be hoped, 
that the comprehensive mind of Mr. Canning will 
at length extend its wide spreading benevolence to 
these realms, and will commiserate the destruction 
of our own industry, and that stagnation of com- 
merce, manufactures, and agriculture which are 
exhibited in the picture of our own country ; that 
he will reflect on those aged parents within the 
circle of his own acquaintance, who are weeping 



S3 

x>ver the desolation of their families occasioned by 
the war, and take pity on the mothers whose off- 
spring are torn away to destruction, in a much greater 
proportion than those of the countries to which it 
appears his pity is confined. 

But perhaps I am treading on tender ground, and 
I maybe told, that in imputing to Mr. Canning any 
compassion for the people of France, I am impeach- 
ing his loyalty, and accusing him of those weak and 
childish feelings by which an Englishman would 
think himself disgraced — I shall be told that I have 
misrepresented his speech and his opinions; that 
the picture of France and her conquered states was 
introduced for no such purpose as I have supposed; 
— that if I had chosen to refer to the preceding pa- 
ragraph, I might have seen that the description was 
not introduced for the purpose of exciting our pity, 
but of giving rise to our exultation ; of shewing 
that although "war has its calamities, many in which 
we are sharers" yet, that " it has its alleviations" 
and of correcting the false ideas of those who " when 
they look at the victories of our enemies, are so daz- 
zled, as to see nothing of the privations and miseries 
of France J" who in " contemplating the exploits of 
this country, turn the diminishing end of the glass, hut 
present us at the same time with a magnified view of 
9ur misfortunes." This then is, it seems, the true" 
purpose for which Mr. Canning has favoured us 
with the pathetic description before referred to> 



34 

wrought up to its highest pitch by all the power; 
of his eloquence ; at every sentence., and at every 
word of which,, his auditors were to feel — not the 
natural and generous sympathies which such lan- 
guage is calculated to excite., but a vindictive and 
malevolent joy, that the calamities and sufferings 
inflicted by war upon ourselves, were inflicted also, 
and that in a greater degree, upon our enemies. — 
Revenge however, as well as affection, is limited in its 
pleasures, and lest the transports of his audience 
should rise too high, Mr. Canning, with that pru- 
dence that distinguishes all his speeches, checks the 
warmth of his imagination, and acknowledges that 
for all this distress in France, " conquest is some 
compensation, and that the subjects of the conqueror 
are consoled for their sufferings by a sense of national 
glory/' thereby cautioning his hearers against in- 
dulging in too great a degree those amiable feelings 
which he had just before excited ; because, after 
all, the people of France had some compensation 
for the destruction of their manufactures, their 
commerce, and their agriculture — the desolation of 
their families and the slaughter of their youth — the 
consolation of knowing that their Tyrant had ren- 
dered many other nations as unhappy as themselves. 

This national glory is however, in the estimation 
of Mr. Canning, so excellent a styptic for the bleed- 
ing wounds of France, that he thinks a portion 
of it might be of service also to this country; and 



35 

he therefore adds an additional clause, by which 
he reserves out of the liberal concession made to our 
enemies, as much of it as may be sufficient for our 
own purpose — " only," says he, ss Utit he granted, 
that for 'privations, great indeed, hut surely less than 
those of the sulyects of our enemy, zve, too, may he 
capable of deriving some consolation from a series 
of achievements reflecting lustre on the national cha- 
racter ; almost unexampled in our past history, and 
such as only, a few years ago, the most sanguine ima- 
gination would hardly have ventured to anticipate." 
—Take comfort then, ye sons and daughters of af- 
fliction, ye who pine with hunger and shiver 
with nakedness ! Raise your heads, ye weeping pa- 
rents, who lament the untimely loss of your slaugh- 
tered offspring ! Be comforted, ye sons of industry, 
of every rank and condition, for the destruction of 
your occupations and the ruin of your families ! for 
you, as well as your enemies, have also the conso- 
lation of conquest and of national glory, and have 
the delightful satisfaction of knowing, that whilst 
you are suffering the extremes of agony and distress, 
ypu are communicating the same to every other por- 
tion of the globe. 

But here a further difficulty occurs ; and Mr. 
Canning becomes fearful that this military glory 
may be found so far to overbalance our sufferings, 
that we may determine to continue the war for the 



36 

mere'purpose of obtaining it. Against this inordinate 
appetite, he wisely and strenuously exhorts us ; and 
thinks, <( that this splendid accession of military fame, 
ought not to make us enamoured of the war ; or to 
reconcile us to persevering in it, if a solid peace were 
really attainable." — For the alleviations Mr. Can- 
ning has afforded to our distresses, I am happy to 
have it in my power to console him in turn ; and 
can assure him, with the utmost confidence, that 
there is not the slightest danger of our being so 
enamoured ; that we are very sensible that military 
glory, will neither compensate us for the loss of our 
commerce, nor feed our famishing manufacturers ; 
and that although we are well convinced of the value 
of national character, we wish that character to 
be founded in justice, integrity, and moderation ; 
and not in pride, in rapacity, in violence, and in 
war. 

Of the great and manifest difference of opinion ex- 
isting in the country on this most important topic, 
Mr Canning is well aware : and accordingly he 
has devoted to its discussion the whole force of his 
talents ; insomuch that his speeches may be con- 
sidered as one of the most elaborate and unqualified 
defences of the war that has yet been laid before the 
public. He is not however so well convinced of 
the validity of his own arguments as to trust them 
to a free and open examination. On the contrary, 



37 

it is his constant effort to prevent enquiry; and if 
the Advocates for Reform be "mad and desperate/' 
the Friends of Peace are represented by him as in- 
sincere in their professions, and as aiming at objects 
which they dare not avow* 

In his address at the public dinner in Liverpool, 
he charges them with "knowing full well that the 
propositions which they so glibly announce as simple 
propositions of elementary truth, are interwoven with 
considerations and circumstances which render the 
discussioTi of than perplexed and difficult in the ex- 
treme;" but, "that they carefully keep these difficult 
ties out of sight when they wish to make an impression 
on popular feelings/* To wish for peace is, in the 
opinion of Mr. Canning, so manifestly absurd, that 
it is impossible to attribute it to any deficiency of 
judgment, and it can therefore only be accounted 
for from some criminal motive. iC We are asked/* 
says he, " with an air of simplicity which would be 
quite touching, ifwecould imagine it toproccedfrom 
mere defect of understanding, why we are not at 
peace V 

Now, although Mr. Canning's reason for adopt- 
ing this insulting language be sufficiently evident, it 
is not so easy to perceive the grounds upon which 
these, and similar imputations, interspersed through 
his speeches, are founded. Are there not motives 
sufficient to account for the earnestness displayed 



38 

upon this subject, without having recourse to sup- 
positions so injurious to the friends of peace ? Has 
not Mr. Canning himself explicitly stated that we are 
"labouring under great and grievous privations?" 
Are not the prospects of the country alarming ? Is 
not its best blood daily streaming ? Does not the 
state of our finances perplex the wisest, and appal 
the boldest ? Is not the pressure of taxation almost 
intolerable, and must it not be increased by the 
continuance of the war ? Is there any difference of 
opinion on these subjects ? And are they not of 
sufficient importance to induce every friend to his 
country to look towards that object, which it has 
long been apparent, is the only effectual remedy — if 
indeed that remedy be not already too late ? — W by 
then is it to be insinuated that they who reason on the 
subject of peace are not mad, but mischievous ? Or 
why are they to be publicly represented as "labour- 
lug to impress upon the minds of the people additional 
motives of consternation and despair?'* Does Mr. 
Canning imagine that war will be eternal ? or, 
does he rate his talents so high as to suppose that 
by a series of hasty and inconsiderate expressions, 
poured forth amidst the fervour of an election, he can 
discountenance the efforts of those, who, regardless 
of either good report or evil report, are labouring 
to save themselves and their country from destruc- 
tion ? In a free country, discussions on peace are 
inseparable from a state of warfare ;— yet Mr. Can- 



39 

ning not only seeks to keep up those national preju- 
dices and animosities by which the present war has 
been so unhappily distinguished, but endeavours, as 
far as in his power, to excite the public resentment 
against such of his own countrymen as dare to 
manifest the slightest remains of reason or of deli- 
beration, and who presume to ask the dangerous 
question, " Why are we not at peace?" 

The next attempt made by Mr. Canning to pre- 
vent discussion on the subject of the war, is of a 
very extraordinary nature, and such as appears 
not only greatly to detract from the opinion ge- 
nerally entertained of his talents, but such as could 
scarcely have been expected in the age in which we 
live. Could any person have suppposed he should 
hear it asserted from high authority, and on a public 
occasion, that the present war is independant of mo- 
ral causes ? and that to remedy or controul it, is be- 
yond the reach of human power? Yet, in what other 
light are we to consider the following passage from 
Mr. Canning's speech at the dinner in Liverpool? 

<e In what a state of the world is it that these gen- 
tlemen talk of peace, and of themselves as the lovers 
of peace., just as calmly as if it were only a mere 
question of taste and fancy ; as if to choose were to 
have, and to have were securely to enjoy ? What, 
Gentlemen, should you think of the sense or the fair- 
ness of men, who, in the midst of the distress and de- 



40 

solation occasioned in one of your West India Inlands 
by a hurricane or tornado y while the air was involved 
in a pitchy darkness, and the city rocking with vol- 
canic explosions, were to run about the streets pro- 
claiming themselves the friends of light and of 
perpendicular position." — c< Gentlemen , the order of 
things in the moral and political world is not less con- 
vulsed at the present moment thanin the physical world 
by such visitations of providence as those which I 
have just described. The storm is abroad. For 
purposes inscrutable to us, it has pleased providence to 
let loose upon mankind a scourge of nations, who car- 
ries death and devastation into the remotest corners of 
the earth," 

The same sentiments are avowed by Mr. Canning" 
in his speech at Manchester ; in which, after ad- 
verting to the sufferings of the community, he adds, 
<c but that these sufferings are inflicted by any other 

HAND THAN THAT WHICH BRINGETH DOWN PUNISH- 
MENT UPON NATIONS, I MUST UTTERLY DENY !" 

It is not easy to conceive how Mr. Canning 
could venture to advance, and repeatedly to insist 
upon, this very singular sentiment. Could he for a 
moment conceive that it was in his power to induce 
his hearers to relinquish their understandings, to 
extinguish their feelings, to abandon every effort 
for their own security and their own happiness, 
and to resign themselves in despair to whatever fate 
might be impending over them ? Is it not an insult 



41 

upon common sense, to tell us that we can no more 
prevent the continuance of the war, than we can 
prevent the effects of an earthquake or a tornado ? 
Has not Mr. Canning himself entered into discus- 
sions on the question of peace ? and did he ever 
hear of any persons seriously deliberating on the 
best mode of preventing a hurricane or an earth- 
quake, or of altering the course of nature in the 
system of the physical world ? 

It is not for the purpose of retorting upon Mr* 
Canning his own words, if I tell him that he knows, 
full well the futility of his own arguments. He has 
himself rejected and renounced them — not by con- 
struction and implication, but in express terms; 
and has admitted that the question of peace or war, 
is so far from being either wicked, or absurd, that 
it is a subject of fair discussion, and that the only 
difference is, as to the terms on which peace ought to 
oe made. 

<e The only arguable difference," says he, cc be- 
tween MEN OF HONEST MINDS AND SOBER UNDER- 
STANDINGS, must be as to the terms on which peace 
ought to be made." 

" If indeed they who ay for peace, mean no more 
than that it is to be accepted on any tolerable conditions, 
I do not differ with them ; our only difference is 
then about those conditions." 



42 



- After these explicit contradictions of his own ar- 
guments, these ample concessions to the advocates 
of peace, to which others might be added from his 
speeches, I hope tor the sake of decency, if not of 
consistency, we shall hear no more from this quarter, 
about the mischief, or the madness, of discussing the 
question of peace, or the folly of attempting to alter 
a course of events as fixt as the laws that regulate 
the phenomena of nature. Of his own free will and 
mere motive, Mr. Canning thinks proper to descend 
from the elevated station from which he had endea- 
voured to frown his opponents into silence, and con- 
sents to contest the question on the old grounds of 
expediency and common sense — WhenAchilles raised 
his terrific voice from the ramparts of the Greeks, 
the Trojans retreated in confusion and gave up the 
contest- But Mr. Canning is no Achilles ; and af- 
ter having endeavoured in vain to strike his oppo- 
nents with dread, he is obliged to descend to the 
plain, and wage the war upon equal terms. 

In this debate, the only one, as Mr. Canning al- 
lows, that can exist amongst men of common honesty 
and common sense, the proposition that Mr. Canning 
undertakes to maintain is, that peace cannot he made 
with Bonaparte on safe and reasonable conditions; 
nor without sacrificing our commerce, and relinquish- 
ing our maritime rights. 

"Peace with whom?" exclaims Mr. Canning, 



43 

<e with a man who has sheivn himself the fosterer of 
commerce 8 with one who holds it high among the 
cares and blessings of a good government ? who de- 
lights in strengthening those bonds by which com- 
mercial intercourse unites the different societies of 
mankind? No ; with one to whom commerce is 
avowedly an object of hatred and of jealousy ;" " with 
such a man is it our fault that we are not at 'peace ? 
Through any peace that such a man woidd grant to 
mr supplications, is it likely that the interests of 
commerce would be specially secured to us F r ' 

Now it must appear to any one whose passions 
and prejudices have not subdued his judgment, 
that to insist upon the personal character of a foreign 
sovereign, as an obstacle to a negociation for peace, 
is not only a mode of conduct unexampled in the 
history of civilized states, but fraught with the most 
dangerous consequences ; as tending to increase those 
causes of warfare already too numerous amongst 
mankind. It is not with Bonaparte, in his individual 
character, but as representative, for the time being, 
of the French nation, that any negociation must take 
place. To allege therefore, that we cannot negotiate 
for peace, because of the personal character of the 
French Ruler, is, in fact, to refuse to negotiate alto- 
gether. — -It is an objection which may be made 
against the best, as well as the worst, of sovereigns, 
and is of too insulting a nature to be urged with any 
expectation of receiving an answer. Pactiones inire 

G 



44 

qu<e helium finiant, eorum est quorum est helium, h the 
great rule upon this subject — a rule without which 
it would be impossible that peace should ever exist 
upon earth. Public treaties are not to depend upon 
the individual character of the sovereign with whom 
they arc made. The minister that would risk the 
dignity, or the safety of his country, upon any such 
grounds, betrays his trust. However high in esti- 
mation, however distinguished by personal worth, 
such sovereign may be, he may change his councils* 
he may imbibe prejudices, or he may any day give 
way to a successor, who may be as opposite to him 
as darkness is to light. It is not on the good faith 
of our enemy, or his forbearance, or kindness to us, 
that we are to rely for the performance of a treaty ; 
but on our own strength and means of maintaining 
it, and, above all, upon its being founded in justice 
and moderation, and so as to be reciprocally advan- 
tageous to both countries. 

It must however be allowed, that the character of 
the French Ruler, as an obstacle to negociation, is 
not dwelt upon by Mr. Canning in such general and 
unqualified terms, as is commonly the case with the 
advocates for the continuance of the war. His ob- 
jections are nearly, if not intirely, confined to the 
hostility which Bonaparte has displayed against 
commerce ; not against commerce with this country 
only, but against commerce in general. Mr. Can- 
ning expressly tells us, that it is to him "an avowed 



45 

olyect of hatred and of jealousy." Of any such 
avowal on his part, I am not aware, although Mr. 
Canning may ; but the charge is in all probability 
true. His disposition and habits are all military ; 
and the discipline he has had has not tended to cor- 
rect them. Yet, we all remember that at one period, 
when he expressed a predilection for <{ ships, colonies, 
and commerce ," a considerable alarm was excited, 
and no little jealousy expressed, lest he should turn 
his attention to those objects, and rival us in a de- 
partment in which we are so deeply interested. It 
may also be recollected, that in his memorable in- 
terview with Lord Whitworth, prior to the renewal 
of the war, he expressly stated, that he was ready to 
enter not only into treaties of commerce, hut, as he 
expressed it, c( any thing that could have given satis- 
faction and testified his friendship." These avowals 
and declarations are, however, wholly out of the 
question ; which is to be considered on other grounds 
than either the assurances, or the threats, of an ene- 
my. The argument of Mr. Canning is, that Bona- 
parte may, if he should think proper, keep the ports 
of the Continent shut against us in peace, as well as 
in "war ; and that in case of a pacification, we may 
therefore have to commence a new war to compel 
him to open them. " Who is there, (says he) that will 
seriously maintain, that the destroyer, whom provi- 
dence has let loose upon the world, is to he propitiated 
by supplication ? or, above all, that any peace which 
supplication could obtain from him, zvould he a peace 



46 

favourable to commerce ? Whatever injury our 
enemy has done to us, by stopping up the channels of 
our trade, I will venture to say that the same means 
of "mischief might he practised by him during peace ; 
if that peace were to leave the sway of the whole Con- 
tinent of Europe actually or virtually in his hands." 

<e But again, I say, what is this to do for com- 
merce? Commercial interest is, as they pretend, the 
peculiar ground on which they have a claim to your 
partiality, Gentlemen; on which their politics are pre- 
ferable to mine. Now, do they or do they not acknow- 
ledge, that, after such a peace as they propose, every 
decree by which your commerce has suffered might 
be re-enacted by the enemy, not only without any 
ability on your part to resist, but without any 

RIGHT TO MAKE IT MATTER OF REMONSTRANCE — 

For supposing Great Britain even to retain all her 
conquests, and supposing, on the other hand, the enemy 
to retain that which we have not yet been able to de- 
prive him of — his power, the ports of the Continent 
might still be shut against you, and you might then 
have to deplore the treaty of peace, as the act by 
which you sealed your own exclusion from the com- 
merce of Europe." 

'* What would be the alternative left to us in such a 
state of things ? Why either to submit indefinitely 
to the continuance of the very privations for the re- 
moval of which we were so anxious to make peace; 



47 



OR TO SEEK A NEW WAR, FOR THE PURPOSE OF RE- 
PAIRING THE BLUNDER OF A PEACE SO HASTILY 
AND IMPROVIDENTLY MADE." 

Can this be the language of Mr. Canning ? Is 
it possible that a man who openly aspires to the cha- 
racter of a statesman, who has held offices of high 
national trust, and who is in fact looked up to by his 
admiring friends as the future minister of the coun- 
try ; can it be possible that he can entertain an idea, 
not only so repugnant to every principle of national 
intercourse, but so manifestly preposterous and ab- 
surd, as that of compelling an enemy by force of arms 
to open his ports for the admission of our manufac- 
tures and our merchandize ? Will such aground of 
warfare be found in the writings of Grotius, of 
PurTendorf, or Vattel ? In the commentaries of 
Coccejus, Barbeyrac, or Heineccius ? Yet, it 
seems, we are now to continue the war, until we 
can divest our enemy of that power of which we 
have not yet been able to deprive him; so that he 
may submit to open his ports to British commerce, 
whether may it be conducive or otherwise to the ad- 
vantage of his own resources, or to the benefit of the 
people under hiscontroul ! — But Mr. Canning car- 
ries his ideas still further. Not only does he conceive 
that we are to continue the war for this object, .but he 
contends, ihat } even ifive were to make peace, it is pro- 
bable ice might have to seek a new war, for the purpose 
$f repairing t lie blunder; that is, to compel our enemy 



4S 

to trade with us. Had Mr, Canning forgotten that 

be had just before admitted, in express terms, I fiat 

in case our enemy should think proper to exclude us 

from his ports during a state of peace, we should not 

HAVE A RIGHT TO MARE IT EVEN MATTER OF REMON- 
STRANCE ? and how can that which is not a matter 
of remonstrance become a just ground of war ? I 
have denominated this idea absurd and preposterous. 
Can any thing be more so, than to suppose that our 
enemy will relinquish to us the keys of his dominie 
ons, and allow us to import such commodities, and 
on such terms., as we may think proper ? In such 
a case, should we claim a free and unlimited trade, 
" upon the footing of the most favoured nations ?" 
or might we suffer our enemies to impose such du- 
ties and restrictions as might be necessary to protect 
their own manufactures ? if not, we may again be 
under the necessity of resorting to war, in order to 
regulate their custom-house fees and import duties. 
Continue the war until we can compel Bonaparte to open 
his ports! why, it is the war that induces him to 
close them against us. It is the war that impels 
him to exert every energy of his soul to exclude our 
ships and manufactures from the Continent, in the 
hope of destroying those resources, which he well 
knows, enable us to carry it on ; which leads him to 
compel, by every means of coercion or intimidation, 
every maritime state iuEurope to reject theoffer of our 
friendly intercourse, and to refuse even the most essen- 
tial articles of their own accommodation; and which 



49 

engages him to ravage the Continent vcith his arms, 
that he may place it under the controul of his re- 
venue officers. But is it really the opinion of Mr* 
Canning, that a trade can be forced with an enemy's 
country during the continuance of hostilities ? or 
that any intercourse can take place, except by the 
mutual consent of both parties ? or does he think it 
likely that our adversary will admit of a commer- 
cial treaty, until we agree to a pacification ? The 
early lessons of wisdom seem to be nearly obliterated 
in the mind of Mr. Canning ; otherwise he might 
have recollected, that when the sun and the wind 
contended which should first compel the traveller 
to take off his cloak, all the raging of the boister- 
ous element only induced him to wrap it closer about 
him ; but when the sun disclosed his beams, he threw 
it aside as an useless incumbrance. 

Whether we are to have trade, or not, with the 
continentof Europe, on there-establishment of peace, 
must depend on the mutual wants and conveniences 
of the respective countries. Of these their own rulers 
are the proper j udges ; and to talk of cont'niubig or re- 
commencing a war, in order to compel them to open 
their ports to us, would be wicked, if it were not 
foolish and dangerous, if it were not ridiculous. 
The only means that any country has of forcing a 
trade with the rest of the world, that can be produc- 
tive of the least advantage, is, by the superior in- 
dustry and skill of its inhabitants — by producing, or 



50 

providing those articles of general utility, or lux- 
ury, which are essential to the comfort or desirable 
for the gratification of those to whom they are of- 
fered. If this plain and " elementary truth" were 
fully understood and acted upon, there can be no 
doubt that the British manufactures would, on the 
restoration of peace, be received with avidity, and 
that British ships and produce would be admitted, on 
reciprocal terms, into every part of the world. The 
indications of this are strong and incontrovertible. 
Such is the desire of obtaining our merchandize and 
our manufactures, that it has hitherto baffled all the 
efforts of our powerful antagonist, to exclude them 
effectually from the dominions under his control ; 
and even in the midst of the most aggravated hostili- 
ties of modern times, the mutual necessities of the 
belligerent states .have compelled them to assent to 
a commercial intercourse, which has been carried 
on to a very considerable extent. Is it not there- 
fore highly probable, that the same motives of 
mutual convenience which produce their effect dur- 
ing the enmity and horrors of war, would be likely 
to exist in a much greater degree during the conti- 
nuance of peace? or may it not be hoped, that 
if a pacification were once effected, the remembrance 
of what all the parties had suffered in the contest, 
and the experience of the benefits of a friendly inter- 
course, would operate as a security against any sud- 
den recurrence to hostilities. 



51 

In his speech at the public dinner in Liverpool, 
Mr. Canning has remarked, that "the price zue should 
tuive to pay for peace would be the surrender of our 
mafitime rights;' an objection which, without being 
generally understood, always produces, on that very 
account, as Mr Canning is well aware, a strong re- 
pugnance to every idea of pacification. The fact is, 
that what are called maritime rights, are principally 
certain measures affecting inimical and neutral states, 
which we claim the privilege of exercising during a 
season of warfare. Of these the chief are, the right 
to search for contraband of war ; the right of block- 
ading the ports of the enemy, so as to prevent the 
entrance of neutral ships and merchandize; and the 
right, more recently claimed, of preventing neutrals 
from carrying on a traffic with the enemy in time of 
war, which the enemy would not permit the neutral 
to carry on in time of peace ; — but it is evident that 
these measures are incident only to a state of war- 
fare, and must expire with the circumstances that 
gave them birth. — In seasons of peace, there are 
neither enemies nor neutrals ; and consequently no 
objects to which such regulations can be applied. 
If hostilities again occur, our maritime rights will 
again revive, or, in other words, we shall, as far as 
in our power, adopt all those measures for carrying 
on a successful warfare, which are consistent with 
the usages of civilized states, and which the cir- 
cumstances of the case may require. Amongst those 
maritime rights which may be exercised in time of 



59 

peace, is that of ft certain defined and acknowledged 
homage to the British flag, which, as far as it has 
heretofore been maintained, certainly ought never to 
be relinquished ; and the right of searching foreign 
ships for British seamen, which gives rise to questions 
that cannot be effectually decided except by in- 
ternational regulations. — But, whatever these rights 
may he, and whether they be incident to a state of 
war or of peace, it cannot be pretended that those 
persons who are favourable to a pacific negociation, 
have ever manifested any disposition to relinquish 
or to abridge those rights, or to purchase a peace 
upon any conditions inconsistent with the character, 
the safety, and the true interests of the country. 

I am well aware that the question of peace or war 
may be debated on other grouuds than those before 
chosen; but it is not my wish to extend these re- 
marks beyond the subject which gave rise to them. 
The arguments stated by Mr. Canning are such as 
he thought proper to rely upon, for explaining his 
own opinions and conduct, before large bodies of the 
community, and on an occasion which called for 
every exertion of his talents. — They may therefore 
be considered as those which in his mind were the 
most unanswerable, and the best adapted to the 
present state of affairs. — If, however, Mr. Canning 
had thought proper to confine himself to the expo- 
sition of his own sentiments, without misrepresent- 
ing those of others; if he had even been satisfied 



53 

with opposing the opinions of the Friends of Reform 
and of Peace, without imputing to them motives 
which they disavow, and designs which they ab- 
hor, it is most probable I should have been spared 
the unpleasing task of criticism and of censure. — 
Whether the observations which I have ventured to 
make, have effectually refuted the arguments to 
which they are applied, it is for the reader to judge; 
but whatever that decision may be, I trust that the 
reasons adduced are sufficient to demonstrate the 
illiberality and injustice of such imputations, and to 
shew that it is possible to desire a Reform in the 
Jfouse of Commons, without being either " mad or 
desperate" and to wish for the restoration of "peace, 
without being an enemy to one's country, 

Towards the close of the election at Liverpool, 
intelligence was received of the declaration of war 
against America. — In the situation in which this 
country stands, when every man of Mr. Canning's 
hearers " is suffering in his own person in a great de- 
gree, in his immediate connections in a still greater, and 
7iio st of all with regard to those who depend on him for 
support," it might have been presumed that this in- 
formation would have been received with concern, 
not oniy as having finally closed upon us the chief 
market for our manufactures, and dried up the 
widest channel of our commerce, but as interrupt- 
ing those supplies so necessary to our armies in the 
Peninsula, and so efficacious in keeping down the 



51 

price of provisions at home. Mr. Canning is, how- 
ever, too hold a politician to be intimidated either 
by the loss of an useful friend, or the accession of an 
additional enemy, and the war with America forms 
another subject of triumph over his opponent, in his 
speech after being chaired. On this topic Mr. 
Canning gives way to the feelings of enthusiasm, 
and insinuates to his hearers, that some mysterious 
connection subsists between the war with America 

and the election for Liverpool. "By a singular 

coincidence," says he, " on or about the same day on 
which thai motion (Mr. Brougham's) was made, the de- 
claration oj war by America against Great Britain pas- 
sed the Senate of the United States;' — " and by another 
singular coincidence, the defeat of the prophecy upon 
which his (Mr. Brougham s ) expectations were founded, 
is made known here on the very day of the defeat of those 
expectations.'" What a wonderful coincidence ! Who 
could have expected in these later times such a 
visible interposition? In what a striking manner 
are the respective merits of the rival Candidates 
rewarded ! Mr. Canning, who has been the strenu- 
ous advocate of the Orders in Council, is returned 
Member for Liverpool ; and Mr. Brougham, " the 
prophet of American reconciliation" as Mr. Canning 
calls him, is obliged " to leave the town, disappointed 
of this honourable object." 

And who w^as he that was thus marked out as 
retiring disappointed in his expectations? A man 



55 



of whom it is difficult to say, whether the cour- 
ageous energy with which he has uniformly pursued 
every great and noble object, or the splendour of his. 
talents and extent of his acquirements, are the most 
conspicuous — who would have reflected back, with 
additional lustre, the honour conferred on him by 
his constituents — who has compressed within a 
small portion of his life, and a short Parliamentary 
career, the most important services to his country ; 
and who, in the midst of venality and corruption, 
the defalcation of the young, and the prejudices of 
the old, has always stood up, the fearless and suc- 
cessful advocate of justice, of humanity, of freedom, 
and of peace. If such a man is not intitled to the 
affection and gratitude of his countrymen, and may 
not hope for the favour of Heaven upon his exer- 
tions — then indeed a revolution has taken place in 
the moral constitution of the world such as it has 
not before experienced — 

11 But evil on itself shall back recoil, 
" And mix no more with goodness.'* 

" — if this fail, 
" The pillar d firmament is rottenness, 
rc And ear llis base built on stubbles'' 

If it were incumbent upon any individual in this 
country more particularly than another, to feel re- 
morse and sorrow at the unhappy result of our long 
negotiation with America, that man is Mr. Can- 
ning. There was a time when, in consequence of 



56 



the high office which he held under his Majesty, 
tliat negotiation passed through his hands, and 
when, there is every reason to believe,he might have 
established a lasting friendship between the two 
countries.— -But conciliation with foreign states is 
not the maxim of Mr. Canning; and, instead of 
promoting peace, he and his associates in admini- 
stration rejected the treaty formed by Mr. Erskine, 
for the permanent intercourse of the two countries. 
It is not therefore surprising, that he who sowed 
the seed should rejoice in the harvest. — Mr. Can- 
ning had, it seems, a much greater share in producing 
such a result than his modesty permitted him to 
state to his friends in Liverpool; and the secret con- 
sciousness of his unboasted services in the cause of 
humanity, commerce, and social intercourse, con- 
spiring with the singular concurrence of events 
before referred to, produced in all probability that 
decided allusion to an extraordinary interposition, 
which must have astonished his friends, no less 
than it confounded his opponents. 

Considering the places in which Mr. Canning's 
speeches were delivered, and the persons to whom 
they were addressed, it might have been expected 
that some consolation, some hope of improvement 
in the condition of the country, and especially of 
the manufacturing and commercial districts, would 
have been held out by Mr. Canning, and that he 
might have, at least, admitted th possibility of beU 



57 



ter times. But all is dark and gloomy, and every sen- 
timent breathes cheerlessness and poverty, wretch- 
edness and war. Thus the speeches of Mr. Can- 
ning become the manifesto of the war party, and 
finally mark that inexorable adherence to the pre- 
sent system of politics which no sufferings can af- 
fect, no remonstrances change, no supplications 
remove; which inculcates upon the people the 
idea, that the hand of destiny is upon them ; that 
their hopes are extinguished, their efforts fruitless, 
and that they have only to submit in patience to 
the last consummation of their miseries. 

But if the conduct of Mr. Canning be thought 
extraordinary, what shall we say of that of his nu- 
merous hearers and admirers in the towns of Liver- 
pool, Warrington^ and Manchester, who not only 
patiently allow themselves to be told that their suf- 
ferings and privations are irremediable, but loudly 
applaud the orator at every sentence, and literally 
rejoice in the prospect of their own wretchedness 
It is indeed remarkable, that the denunciations of 
Mr. Canning are absolute and unconditional. — 
He plainly insinuates that we have incurred the 
wrath of Heaven, and that our destinies are not to 
be changed by any alteration in either the external or 
internal policy of the country. — Even the war, the 
darling offspring and surviving blessing of his late 
friend, Mr. Pitt, of which Mr. Canning has him- 
self been the assiduous nurse, and which under his 



care, after a growth of twenty years, now displays 
its parental features in horrible maturity — even the 
war is only obscurely and rarely glanced at, as 
a doubtful remedy and uncertain hope. The 
curtain that shades its ghastly form is evidently 
touched by Mr. Canning with a trembling hand, 
and is no sooner thrown back, than it is again 
closed, lest the deformities of the object behind it 
should be too distinctly seen. — In the mean time 
every topic is insisted upon by Mr. Canning, that 
can excite the resentment of the people against 
such of their countrymen as conceive that there 
are yet hopes of relief, and who venture to propose, 
even as a subject of deliberation, the expediency of 
peace. That we should in any manner endeavour to 
release ourselves from the state of hopeless despon- 
dency into which he has plunged us, seems to him 
quite unaccountable ; and his only doubt is, whe- 
ther we are mad or mischievous — desperate or insane! 
These imputations find a ready echo from the par- 
tizans of power, the exclusive pretenders to superior 
loyalty ; who presume to consider themselves as the 
organ of the public voice, and without the possibi- 
lity of being able to discover one sordid or interested 
motive in the conduct of their opponents, neglect no 
opportunity, either public or private, of pointing 
them out to the indignation of every class of their 
fellow-subjects, as traitors to their kiug, and ene- 
mies to their country ; which, if we may judge from 
the liberal sentiments that occasionally burst forth 



59 

in the midst of their conviviality, would be relieved 
from a dangerous part of its population, by tbeir 
transporting themselves to the wilds of New Holland, 
and leaving the land of their birth, the seat of their 
affections, the nursery of freedom and of science, of 
courage, of literature, and of art, to become the 
prey of corruption and arbitrary power — a reproach 
and a bye-word among the nations of the earth ! 

Let us however dismiss this part of our subject, and 
endeavour, before we conclude, to compress into one 
point of view the singular transactions that have 
taken place. For this purpose let us for a moment 
suppose, that in a state of public affairs, not the 
most flattering either at home or abroad, the people 
at large are fortunately indulged with an opportu- 
nity of selecting, by their own choice, such a repre- 
sentative as they conceive will, by his talents, his ex- 
perience, and his devotion to their cause, be most 
likely to relieve their distresses, and to insure their 
common happiness. — Suppose too that occasions are 
afforded him of addressing, from time to time, great 
bodies of individuals, assembled in some of the lar<r- 
est towns in the kingdom, and of explaining to them 
his views of the present situation of the country, of 
pointing out those measures most proper to improve 
it, and such as he means to adopt for that purpose. , 
Let us also suppose these addresses to have been re- 
ceived with unexampled applause ; to have been re- 
commended as models of oratory, and to have been 



60 

embodied in print. Butlhe moment approaches. -The 
audience wait in silent expectation. — The orator be- 
gins — fJ Gentlemen, there are privations common to 
us all, and unhappily incident to a state of nxtr, such 
as that in which it is our misfortune to be engaged." 
— (People of Liverpool, loud applauses.)—" Gentle- 
men, you are suffering under great privations." — 
cc Every man whom I now address must he suffering 
in his own person in a great degree, in his immediate 
connections in a still greater, and most of all with 
regai^d to those who depend upon him for support." 
(People of Manchester, continued plaudits.) — <( Gen~ 
tlemen, there is in paint of fact, no nccessaiy con- 
nection between the question of war and the question 
of scarcity"— (loud cheers.) — ce Gentlemen, I have 
been the uniform supporter of the war*" — 
(three times three)--" Gentlemen, themore radicaland 
effectual mode which has been recommended to you 
for abolishing war with all its train of sufferings, 
and insuring the return and continuance of peace 
with all its blessings, is a Reform in the Commons 
House of 'Parliament " cc Gentlemen, I will hot 
support that question of Parliamentary Reform." — 
(loud applause). cc Gentlemen, there are persons 
who would tell you that the town of Warrington, 
from its size and commercial importance, ought of 
itself to send Members to Parliament. They would 
flatter you with this theory in order to obtainpopu- 
larity. — I shall not do so. — In me you see a decided 
enemy to parliamentary reform.— (three times 



61 



three, from the people of Warrington.)— Cf Gentle- 
men I cannot promise you to endeavour to alter the 
frame of the House of Commons, in order to open an 
admissionfor new representatives, even from you." 
(People of Manchester. No fanciful theories — with 
loud huzzas.) — <c Mad indeed and desperate would 
he the Reform, that should exclude from the House of 
Commons, as some ignorant theorists advise, every 
man who has possessed,, or who possesses, office." — 
(great approbation.) — tf Gentlemen, in this limited 
monarchy, the contests for office agitate the elements of 
the Constitution, and keep them alive and active, but 
without endangering the Constitution itself" [plaudits.) 
^Gentlemen, you must not attribute your sufferings to the 

MISCONDUCT OF GOVERNMENT, but tO THOSE CAUSES 

which have overwhelmed other nations, and affected our 
'own" — (applause.) M That your sufferings are in- 
flicted by any other hand than that which bring- 

ETH DOWN PUNISHMENT UPON NATIONS, I MUST 

utterly deny." — (unbounded applause.) " Your 
afflictions, Gentlemen, are as unavoidable as a hur- 
ricane or a tornado." — (rapturous applause.) " What 
delusion then is it to address to you, Gentlemen, and 
to the commercial classes particularly, the exhortation 
to bestir yourselves, toforce-y our government to peace.' 3 
(People of Liverpool and Manchester, we will not 
bestir ourselves.) " Gentlemen, you are not to look 
for the rerriedy of your sufferings and privations in 
changes of ihe external and internal policy of the 
country:*— (enthusiastic applause.) 



62 

Now it is not easy to determine, whether we ought 
most to admire the kind and consolatory language 
in which the orator thus consigns hi v hearers to ir- 
remediable distress, or the readiness and pleasure 
with which they surrender themselves to their fate. 
It is as novel as it is delightful, to see with what 
ardour and cordiality they congratulate each other, 
that no changes in either the internal or external 
policy of the country, can remedy their sufferings, 
and how truly they participate in the cheering sen- 
timent of the excellent old song, 

(C Let us all be unhappy together J* 9 

In this prosperous state of affairs, with which they 
are so highly gratified, it would be quite imperti- 
nent to interfere. About tastes it is in vain to dis- 
pute ; and they who meddle on such occasions 
undertake a thankless and often a dangerous office. 
It is only a few weeks since, as my readers must all 
remember, that a circumstance occurred in the me- 
tropolis, which strongly exemplifies this remark.- — 
An honest John Bull had unluckily been tempted 
to engage in a game of chance, as improvidently as 
nations sometimes engage^ in a war. — Having lost 
all his money, he wagered his clothes, and lost ? them 
also. Having then nothing left but his life, he 
placed that too on the chance of the die. Being 
still unfortunate, he fairly resigned himself up to 
his antagonist, who, with as little ceremony as Mr. 
Canning displays in pronouncing tlie decrees of 



63 

Heaven, hung him up on a lamp post.- — -A police 
officer passing by, and seeing so unusual a spectacle, 
hastened and cut him down. On such an occasion 
it might be supposed, that the gratitude of the mart 
to his benefactor would be unbounded ; but what wag 
the surprise of the interloper, on finding that the first 
use which the other made of his returning strength 
was to commence a violent attack upon him, from 
which he with difficulty extricated himself, and was 
obliged to resort for redress to a court of law. — 
Ex uno (Usee omnes. — This is a true prototype of 
the supporters of the war ; and ought to be a cau- 
tion to those officious persons who are so ready to 
assist their neighbours. People in general have, 
it is true, no relish for hunger and thirst, poverty 
and nakedness, any more than for being hung up at 
a lamp post; but it must not be presumed from 
this, that every one is of the same opinion. It is 
said there is a pleasure in madness which none but 
madmen know; and as Mr. Canning has told us, 
that war has its consolations, arising from the com- 
parison of our own sufferings with those of our ene- 
mies, so it is possible that the pleasure of knowing 
that others are miserable, may, in some persons, ex- 
ceed the pain occasioned by the distress of themselves 
and their families ; but this is a matter of feeling, 
not of reasoning ; resulting from the organization 
of the heart, not of the head. — In this state of 
affairs, all that can be done, is to leave them to their 
own enjoyments, the circle of which has, in the 



64 

course of the present year, been so considerably en- 
larged, — Unfortunately, however, these Epicureans 
in misery cannot think their gratification complete,, 
unless the rest of their countrymen partake of the 
treat, — Nor is this sufficient. — They must not only 
he compelled to take their share, but they must take 
it with every demonstration of satisfaction and of 
gratitude, to those who have so liberally provided it 
for them. Otherwise the branding iron is in the fire ; 
and Mr. Canning, the crier of the court, is ready 
to affix the indelible mark, which is to render them 
the objects of aversion or of distrust to their coun- 
trymen for the remainder of their days. 

But I should do great injustice to the important 
towns before mentioned, and to that of Liverpool in 
particular, were I for one moment to allow it to be 
understood, that the persons who could thus hear 
with patience, and mark with their approbation, the 
sentiments of Mr. Canning, are to be considered 
as expressing the sense of the inhabitants, or even 
of a majority of the inhabitants of those places. — 
It is not indeed easy to conceive how statements so 
fallacious, assertions so unfounded, accusations so 
injurious, and views of national policy so disheart- 
eningand so unjust, could have met with theapplause 
with which they were received. But that Mr. 
Canning's speeches have contributed to add to his 
popularity, or are likely to attract a single indivi- 
dual to his cause, will not be readily believed. On 



65 



the contrary, it must appear to every intelligent and 
impartial reader, that these harangues exhibit no. 
thing of those strong feelings for the happiness of 
the people, those comprehensive views of the public 
interest, or that deliberative wisdom which ought to 
characterize even the extemporaneous effusions of a 
truly enlightened statesman ; but that they are the 
common and vulgar topics of those political parti- 
zans, who, however they may disagree amongst 
themselves, always make common cause against 
the people, and would gladly induce them to be- 
lieve, that all opposition to their measures is not 
only useless, but criminal ; not only irrational, 
but insane; not only imprudent, but contradictory 
to the immutable decrees of Providence. 



E&rrtim Smitk and Co. Printers. 



LB D'li 



